Improvement in dredging



Z Sheets-Sheet 2. W. B. HYDE.

DREDGING. No.188,369 Patented March13, 1877.

N. PETERS, FHTO-UTHOGRAPNER, WASMINGTON, D C

Emran STA'I'ES" PATENT WILLIAM B. HYDE,OF OAKLAND, GALIFORNIA.: i

IMPR OVEMENT IN DREDG IN G.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 188.369, dated March 13, 1877; application filed January 27, 1877. u 4 I To all whom it may concem:

Be 'it known that I, WILLIAM B. HYDE, of Oakland, county of Alameda, and' State of California, have invented Improvements in Submarine Boring and Dredging; and I do hereby declare the` following tobe' a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference .being had to the: accompanying drawing.

`My invention relates to a novel mode or method of i making submarine' excavations; also, to an improved boring-dredger, by means of which'l can sink holes in the bottoms or beds of rivers, lakes,"and' bays or seas, and remove the dredgings therefrom with great facility. V

My method of exoavating consists in sinking or berin g a series of vcrticalholes or wells into and below the bottom or bed of the river, lake, or bay at the place where it is .desired to excavate, or to deepen the water, so. that-` after the drill or 'boring implement has been removed the' action ot' the water upon the bot-. tom- 'of the river, lake, or bay will fill the holes with the loose material Whichforms the surface ofthe bottom, and thus reduce the general' level of the bottom in a'corresponding degree. u 'My boring apparatus consists ot' a barrelor cylinder ot' the required length, through which I make .two'distinct and independent pas sages or conduits. The lower end of this tube or 'pipeis 'made flaring or bell-shaped, so that it will press upon the bottom of the bore and 'exclude the surrounding or outside water.` To the upper 'end of each passage 'or conduit I' attach a 'pu'mp,-one of which acts as aforcepump to force a stream of water through one of thepassages against the' earth iu'the bottom of the bell-shaped chamber, for the. purposeof cutting and loosening it up, while the other acts as a suctioh-pump to withdraw the water and loosened material, all as'hereinal'ter described. y

Beferring to the accompan'ying drawings, Figure 1 represents a barrel or cylinder of any desired length, through which two independent passages or conduits, b c, pass. The

lower end of this barrel or cylinder is provided with afiaring or inverted bell-shaped end piece, D, the interier ot' which forms a hell-shaped chamber, so that the edge of the bell-mouth or. end piece will rest upon the mudor bottom" of` the river, lake, o'r bay, and :thust'orn .a

-chamber at the lower end of the barrel, into which but little outside watercan-pass.-- The' lower ends of both ot' the passagcs 'or con duits b c terminate in this chamher, as here inafter described. Ithen connect the upper end of each ot" the passages or conduits b a with a separate pump by means of a flexible hose, e, or other suitable tube or pipe, so that the barre] or cylinder can be loweredvfrom a vessel or other' floating structure until the rim,

ofthe bell-shapedendpiece D rests upon the= urect a small stream otwater directly downward against the material upon' v which. the. rim of the mouth or chamber rests, and thus loosen it. The other pump,-which is coinect-` ed with the co'nduit a, is a suction-pump,and serves to withdraw the water and loosened; material through 'the conduitofrom'the'chauber as fast as it accumulates. `It will thus=be seen, that I employ two separate' independent pumps, each of' which is connected, by a separate hose, with a' separate; conduit. One pump forces 'water into 'the in verted hell-shaped chamheytor :the purpose"- ot'loosenin g the material, while the' other with draws from' the chamber both .the water 'an l ,loosened material. -As fast as the materialis withdrawn fromunder the chamberthe ini plement settles down,thus boring aholejwith great fa'cility. v i Tig. 3, Sheet 2, reprcsents theplan of a; ves l sel upon which two-pumps, K L, are located,

and from 'the stern' ot'which the implement above described is suspended by a rope, m, which-passes over a pulley, n, and thence back over a drum or windlass, by means of which it can' be raised or lowercd. 0 p represent two flexihle tubes, one of which, 0, coni nects the pump K with the conduit c, thus carrying the forcing-stream into the cnnduit b, while the other, p, connects the pump L with the conduit c, and forms the suction apparatus. This plan is a correct representation of an arrangement of the above-described apparatus, by which I have recently made a line of one hundred and twety borings in the Bay of San Francisco, aggregating twentyfi've hundred feet of borings, accomplished in seventeen hundred working minutes. These borings were made below water from sixteen to eighty-one feet in depth, each boring averaging twenty feet in depth.

My invention consists in conneeting two pnmps with a single chamber by means of two independent passages, so that each pump will havea distinct duty to perform, independent of any particular maner of arranging the conduits; yet I prefer to construct the boring-implenent with the suction tube or passage passing down directly through its center, as represented at Fig. 1. In this case I make an annular cham ber around this central tube, the upper end of which connects with the passage b, while a series of small perforations or nozzles, i i i, are arranged at intervals apart around the lower' end of the central suction-tube, so as to connect the annular chamber with the interior of the inverted bell-shaped chamber. These perforations or nozzles I make at such an angle that all of the streans issuing from them will converge or focus at a suitable point below the nozzles, thus producing, in effect, a concentrated stream acting upon a large surface. The efect of this concentrated stream is to cut up and loosen the material which the bellmouth rests upon, and cause it to boil upward into or toward the mouth of the suction-pipe, while the action of the suction-pump lifts the material through the conduit b. This arrangenent is themost effective of any that I have attempted; but the forcingstream could be delivered at the center, and the suction-pipe .arranged to take up the loosened material outside of it in a very effective manner.

This implement is very useful, not only for making a series of vertical holes for dredging purposes where it is desired to deepen a channel, but is of great value in prospecting in the bottomsof rivers, lakes, and bays, in order to discover the character of the underlying strata for engineering purposes, as the character of the material which is passing through can easily be determined by testing the material from' the outfiow-pipe. A chart of the substratum which underlies bodies of water can thus be easily produced, as has been actually done in the case above mentioned. i

As a dredging-implement, this device has the advantage of allowing me toremove a large quantity of' dredgings without moving the floating structure or dredging apparatus,

because I can bore a number of holes at intervals apart, so that when they are filled up by the action of the water or otherwise the ef-.

fect will he to reduce the general level of the bottom as much as if the dredgings were powder Cartridge in one or more of the holes,

and thus destroy the walls between them, so as to fill the holes and reduce the level immediately. y y

I am aware that a single stream of water has heretofore been forced through a pipe into a submarine chamber by a pump, and then upward again by the pressure from the same pump for the purpose of raisingdredgings and earthy material. I am also aware that earthy material and dredgings have been raised through a pipe by a suction in combination with a digging-Wheel or other mechanical device l'or loosening and digging up the material. These, however, I do not claim.

Having thns described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is-- 1: The mode or methodof making submarine excavations, consisting in boring a num- 'ber of vertical holes in the bottom of rivers,

lakes, and bays, and allowing then to fill, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. A submarine boring or dredging implement, consisting of an open bottom vessel or bell-shaped chamber, D, in combination with two separate passages, b 0, each of which is connected by a flexible or extensible tube, e, with a separate and. independent 'pump, one of which acts as a force, while the other acts as a suction pump, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The inverted bell-shaped end piece D, connected with the hose or conduit b by a central passage or opening, and having the conduit c connected with an annular chamber, from which small nozzles or perforationsi i connect with the interier 'of the bell-shaped chamber, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In witness whereof hand.

have hereunto set my WILLIAM B. HYDE.

Witnesses: i

GEO. H. STRONG, OLWYN T. STAGY. 

